Guilt
by melanthe lilac
Summary: It creeps in, unnoticed, and burrows inside you. It’s always there, deep down, keeping itself hidden. Waiting for the opportunity to come, and when you least expect it, it pops up, fanged and ugly, ready to strike.


**Author's Note:** I'm made quite a lot of changes to this fic, and I thought it was better for it, so I replaced it. Quick and simple, really.

**Disclaimer:** No infringement intended. I do not own a thing.

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She was walking in a dark corridor. There were only a few small, white lights fastened in the ceiling, about half a meter apart. The walls were coloured in red, or maybe crimson. She saw a light at the end, and raced towards it. She felt, more than knew, that she _had_ to get there (wherever there was), and _fast_.

Then she was out in the open. She was momentarily blinded by an overwhelming light, making her eyes water, her vision blur. When she could see clearly, she tried to take in the scene before her. It was a small room, completely engulfed in darkness, except with a pair of glaring lights (spotlights?) pointed at a chair in the very centre of the room. And on that chair sat none other than Jack Bauer, best friend and presumed dead meat.

'Jack!' she yelled, as loudly as she could. Or she would have, if she had managed to make a single noise. Instead, she went over to him, needing to touch him, to reassure herself that he was, indeed, real. But she couldn't get her feet to carry her the last few steps.

She watched, frozen, as Jack slowly lifted his head. Bloodshot, red and swollen eyes met hers. "You.. you!" His voice had an edge to it that Chloe had thought reserved for the lowest scum there was.

"How dare you..how _dare_ you show your face in here!" He was yelling at her now, his red, bulging eyes burning with hatred and anger, all directed straight at Chloe.

"You! You did this! You didn't come for me, you betrayed me, you left me here to rot, you.. look at me! You did _this_!" And as soon as he said the last words, Chloe unfroze, and staggered back.

She stood there, shaken, wide eyes staring unblinking at the sight before her. Small, red lines were appearing at his face, ever growing in length and numbers. They became wounds, dragging downwards, always deeper, until his whole face was covered in blood and sores.

"You did this," he whispered through dried and broken lips, his bloodshot and swollen eyes staring so intensely Chloe felt they stared right through her soul.

Suddenly, his face contorted with pain, eyes scrunched shut, mouth a thin line, his whole body tense. His shirt was torn (how could she not have noticed that?), and Chloe could see the lashes forming on his stomach, marking their way up to his collarbone. He strained against the chains that had appeared from nowhere, and let out a scream so terrible Chloe could feel her neck hairs standing on end.

"You.. you let them do this. They found me because of _you_. You didn't do your job well enough, they tracked me down. _You're_ responsible! _You_ did this!"

Suddenly, the entire room changed. Jack was standing, at least partially so, and chained against a grey stone wall. He was filthy, his torn clothes and face covered in dirt and god knows what else, while streams of blood poured out from his many wounds, making crazy patterns where it went. The cell he was in was filthy, and filled with rats. They crawled over the chains, some even over his feet, but he didn't seem to notice. He didn't struggle against the chains anymore, just stood there and waited for what was to come.

Chloe found herself standing about five feet away from him as she had before. But this time she was clad in black clothes, and had a black whip with claws on the tips in her left hand. It felt like she was watching herself from above. Surely, _she_ could not be the person she saw clear as day standing there, the person that was now beating and viciously whipping her best friend?

She saw how her other self raised the whip and let it fall with a loud '_Smack!_' across the side of Jack's face. He screamed, the scream echoing in the empty room, but still he did nothing to resist. The other Chloe lashed out again, this time hitting him squarely in the chest, letting the tips of the whip drag into the flesh, red flowing freely from the wounds. Jack let out another blood-curling scream, then sagged in his chains, his feet not able to hold his weight.

Chloe could not take it anymore. She tried to get back, tried to stop what was happening, tried to fight for the return to her own body. But she could only watch as Jack was slowly and meticulously being tortured to the brink of death. Then, when she thought it couldn't possibly get any worse than this, it did.

Jack started pleading with the other Chloe, "please, no more.. I can't take it! Please.." He begged her to stop, to either let him go, or finish it, once and for all.

Chloe had never heard Jack beg before, it was simply not computable with the brave, strong man, the so called 'hero'. The other Chloe acted as if he had said nothing, but continued to lash out at him.

"No, Chloe, please, stop!" Jack choked on the blood, _his_ blood. "Please, Chlo', why are you doing this? I never did anything to you, I.. _Chloe!_' He screamed again, the worst scream so far.

Chloe could feel her whole body tremble, she wanted so badly to stop this, to have him in her arms, to comfort him, make everything better once more. And suddenly, she found herself looking straight at Jack. Not from above, but eye to eye. With the scream still reverberating in her ears, she rushed forwards.

"No, don't.. I'll do anything, no more! Please, no more.." He looked up at Chloe, his eyes transformed into blue marbles of fear.

"..don't.. please.." He backed away, head hunching down, his whole body trying to get closer to the ground, making himself small, less of a target, as non-threatening possible. "..no more, don't," he whispered, panic bubbling up in his throat.

Chloe stood there, frozen once more, eyes never leaving the trembling form in front of her. She tried to take a step, but he just pressed himself more firmly against the wall, and she swore she could hear a whimpering noise.

"..please.."

She couldn't get a sound out passed her clogged up throat, so she reached out a tentative hand and touched him, soft and gentle, on his arm. He gave a scream, and desperately scrambled to get away. It was as if her touch had burned him. Chloe staggered back in shock, not willing to believe what was happening.

"You promised! You would come for me, save me.. you.. you.. please, just.. no more.." He was slumped against the wall now, his body bloody and broken, watching her with a pair of fearful, tearstained and haunted eyes.

Chloe could not take it anymore. She turned on her heel, and ran. As fast as her legs would carry her. Where was the door? There was a door here, somewhere! She raced towards the hallway again, her lungs aching for air, but she ignored the pain. All she wanted, all she needed, was to get out! Out from here.

Anywhere but here.

I didn't do this, I didn't. It wasn't me, no, not me, I'm not responsible. It wasn't me, it wasn't me..

"It wasn't me!"

She screamed the last part out loud, her voice hoarse with fear and sleep. She had sat up in the bed, and she could feel her body shaking like a leaf. Her breath came in small puffs, her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks stained with tears. The sheets above and below her were twisted, the blankets lay on a heap on the floor, and her clothes were soaked through by cold sweat.

She shivered.


End file.
